Lucky to be alive, the pensioner whose potato peeler plunge landed him in hospital

A PENSIONER was recovering in hospital yesterday after he tripped and landed on a potato peeler.

Mr Friel, 78, and a peeler similar to the one that stabbed his abdomen [GETTY]

Retired lawyer Thomas Friel, 78, was found slumped in his back garden by wife Joy, 75, after stabbing himself in the freak accident.

She raised the alarm and detectives and ambulance crews raced to the scene in Bothwell, Lanarkshire.

Police searched the premises on Tuesday afternoon and carried out door-to-door inquiries before ruling out foul play.

Mr Friel was peeling potatoes in the kitchen when he saw a figure in their back garden and had gone to investigate. But as he rushed out he tripped, piercing his abdomen with the utensil.

Last night he remained in Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, where his condition was stable.

Mrs Friel said her husband was lucky to survive after she found him bleeding heavily and unconscious in the garden.

The mother-of-one said: “I arrived home and found him in the garden and I thought he was dead. I can’t get the image out of my head.

As he did that he tripped on one of the steps and the peeler went right through his abdomen. We have been told it’s a miracle he survived and the blade missed all his vital organs

Joy Friel

“He was unconscious and I called for the ambulance, who arrived very quickly.

“It wasn’t until 10pm that he regained consciousness and the police were able to speak to him to find out what had happened.

“He was peeling potatoes in the kitchen and he saw the back of someone’s head in our back garden and rushed out.

“As he did that he tripped on one of the steps and the peeler went right through his abdomen.

“We have been told it’s a miracle he survived and the blade missed all his vital organs.

“I genuinely thought he had been attacked but it was just an accident.

“He is sitting up in hospital talking now and is very embarrassed about the whole thing.” Twenty-two years ago Mr Friel’s brother Gerard, also a lawyer, was murdered by a teenage thug in Bonhill, Dunbartonshire.

Alexander Sommerville, 19, was ordered to serve life behind bars for killing the 47-year-old in 1992.

Mr Friel was killed as he walked his dog and became involved in a row with two other youths near his home.

A post-mortem examination of Mr Friel’s body revealed three stab wounds had penetrated the lungs.

Police confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the latest incident.